Behaviour of AISI 316L Steel Exposed to Demineralized Water

Abstract

The subject of investigation was the passivation of AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel. The effectiveness of various passivation media was tested by means of the potentiodynamic polarization technique. Potentiodynamic polarization was carried out in demineralized water before and after passivation treatment. Comparative analysis of the potentiodynamic curves for different passivation media showed that the best protection of the steel surface was provided by a HNO3 solution, φ= 6.0 %, containing CuSO4 · 5H2O, w = 2.0 %. The satisfactory protective properties were found to agree with the high value of the pitting potential.

Keywords

• Stainless steel
• passivation
• pitting corrosion
• inhibitors